


Skirmish; A Parley Sounded

by Jedi Buttercup (jedibuttercup)



Series: Much Ado About Racing [3]
Category: Fast & Furious (2009), Fast and the Furious Series
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Interlude, Kintsugi, M/M, Team as Family, Wordcount: 5.000-10.000
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-20
Updated: 2015-04-20
Packaged: 2018-03-24 22:27:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3786622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jedibuttercup/pseuds/Jedi%20Buttercup
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It wouldn't be the same without Dom.  But the world hadn't stood still last time, either.  Time to go home, and see what the family had been up to while she was gone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Skirmish; A Parley Sounded

**Author's Note:**

> Continuing the theme of stage directions as titles for this series! Legal details pieced together from Google searches; apologies if I got anything significant wrong. I actually meant the story to overlap with Los Bandoleros, the flashbacks in Furious Seven, and the start of Fast & Furious, but it came to a natural close before that; so take it as read that there will eventually be more.

The first place Letty went when the dust cleared enough to return to Los Angeles was the Toretto garage. In the early hours of another hot summer day, the DT sign was almost too bright to look at, reflecting the morning sun into her eyes. Letty blocked the glare with one hand, staring at the old brick building, and frowned as she contemplated her next move.

The last time she'd checked in, Mia had told her she was thinking about selling the place, but it looked like she hadn't gone through with it yet. Good. Letty had no doubt Dom's sister would be pissed if she heard she went there first instead of the house; but she already knew Dom hadn't told Mia where he was going. Something about not making her lie to the cops. Which was sweet as far as it went, but left Letty high and dry, too. And she didn't want to just show up, duffel in hand, without some idea of where she was going next.

She wasn't about to sit down and twiddle her thumbs until Dom deigned to ask her to join him. Leticia Ortiz was no one's princess, happy to sit in a tower while her hero went on adventures; either she'd be with him or without him, but she wasn't going to just put her life on hold for him. And Dom should know better than to expect that. It was on his head that she was here, looking for clues where he might have gone. 

The records were probably a mess after the cops had gone through the garage, but she doubted Mia had cleared anything out yet if she hadn't sold it; she'd had a hard enough time just getting the market open again. Letty and Leon had split after Dom sent them out of town ahead of the heat, but she'd heard about what happened to Jesse, both the shooting and the long recovery the kid was facing. If Leon had made it back ahead of her, he'd probably be with Jesse, not trying to make heads or tails of Dom's filing scheme; and the others were long gone. Dom himself had taken the lion's share of blame for the heists, but Vince, who'd left his blood all over the highway and then disappeared from the hospital before he could be arrested, had also made the news.

And then, of course, there'd been the buster. Who'd turned out to be an undercover cop.

Letty still had trouble reconciling that, herself. She'd been sick of Vince's constant carping on the subject long before Dom ever brought Brian to the garage, and from the sour set of his mouth whenever Vince brought it up she knew Dom had been sick of it, too. He'd taken to Brian in a way she'd never seen him take to anyone else since Lompoc, and she'd thought Brian had felt the same. She'd got over her own suspicions after spending some time in a garage with the guy, and sitting across the table from him at a few Toretto Sunday barbeques. The idea that he'd been faking every minute of that curdled in her gut like egg salad left out in the sun too long.

Not that she hadn't still been a little jealous; there'd been a touch or two of staking her claim in her own behavior around Brian, so she hardly had room to throw stones on that score. But she'd thought Vince was taking it a little too far. In the end, though, he'd been _right_... both about what Brian really was, and the fact that Dom hadn't reacted at all the way he should to a cop lying his way into the circle of the family.

There should have been another ambulance call that day, not hushed rumors that Dom had fled LA under the nose of the cops in Brian's Supra, and that a familiar red import had been seen at the hospital that evening before Vince vanished, too. And more: according to the news, Brian was wanted not only for aiding and abetting and a long list of vehicle-related misconduct, but voluntary manslaughter in the death of Johnny Tran.

Why? Why any of it-- why help Dom escape, why avenge Jesse, why throw his career away like a used condom-- if he'd been setting them up from the start? It just didn't make any fucking sense.

That was all in the rearview at the moment, though. What she cared about was where _Dom_ was, and whether this stop would point her in the right direction. All that she knew at this point was that he wasn't in LA, which left a hell of a lot of ground to cover.

If he'd been there, she wouldn't have had to be the one to reimburse Hector for buying the Charger when it was auctioned out of impound. The cops hadn't been able to crush it; they'd need a court order for that, and proof that the serial or identification numbers on the car or its parts were removed, altered or destroyed. Proof that didn't exist, since Dom's father had been the last one to mod it. When she'd called him to set up the deal, Hector had recommended junking it anyway: it would take serious love to get it running again, and there were a lot of bad memories bound up in its frame. But she just hadn't been able to let that happen. It meant too much to Dom; so if he wasn't close enough to do something about it, she'd just have to do it herself.

Hector was holding onto it for her until she found a place to store it. And it had occurred to her that the garage would be convenient for that, too, until Dom got home or she felt up to restoring it herself.

She took a deep breath, then squared her shoulders, pulled a key from her pocket, and strolled casually across the street to let herself in through the side door.

The scent hit her first as her eyes adjusted to the dimmer light inside: a mix of damp concrete, brick dust, warm metal, and engine oil, with a dash of grease, male sweat, and other volatiles on top. Pretty much the same as always, though the dust was maybe a little thicker; no surprise, if it had been closed up since Dom left. Letty sneezed, then rubbed her nose as she closed the door behind her and turned to get a better look around.

The sight of the silver and blue Skyline sitting in the nearest bay caught her off guard; she'd never seen the car before in her life, and couldn't think why it would be there. The pair of battered Converse peeking out from beneath it were more familiar, though, and she rolled her eyes as their owner's identity clicked. There was only one guy she knew who wore Chucks like that, had a key, and would be stupid enough to take advantage of it.

"What the hell, Brian?" she spat. If he'd been standing, she'd have been highly tempted to deck him for the presumption alone.

"What....?" Brian Earl Spilner-- or whatever they'd said his name was-- jerked at the sound of her voice, then swore as some part of him thumped against the undercarriage. A jolt of satisfaction went through her at the sound; it was hard not to take that as a sign the car agreed with her.

"You heard me, buster," she repeated herself. "What the _fuck_ are you doing in Dom's garage?"

Brian slid out from under the car in a hurry, caster wheels squeaking across the concrete floor. " _Letty_?" he exclaimed as he climbed to his feet, rubbing at a reddened spot on his forehead. He looked wary, but also halfway glad to see her-- which made no more sense than his being there in the first place.

"Don't you _Letty_ me." She leveled an accusing finger in his direction. " _Cop_."

He frowned in reply, a wrinkle forming between his brows as he checked her over. "A little late with that one. And it's actually not his garage, any more. Didn't Mia tell you?"

"Haven't been by the house, yet. And I saw the sign still up, so. You know the new owner or something? And why are you even in LA? I _saw_ your face on the news, man."

"Hey, now, that was months ago," a new, even more familiar voice came from the other side of the garage. "Like the man said, you're a little behind the times."

" _Vince_?" Letty turned to face the new arrival, jaw dropping open. Dom's best friend was the _last_ guy she'd have expected to run into in Brian's company, even if the rumor about the hospital was true. Brian feeling guilty, she could buy; Vince being grateful, though? Never. But there he was, hovering in the open office door, dressed in worn jeans and a camouflage muscle shirt. Except for the thick new scars winding up one arm and the blond streaks in his air, he looked just like he had the last time she'd seen him.

Vince gave her a wry smile, then tucked the rag he was using to clean his hands away in a pocket and strode toward her, opening his arms. "Letty. Good to see you," he said, warmly.

She accepted the hug, leaning into it for just a brief moment, soaking up the closest thing she'd had to family since the day everything went to hell. "Good to see you too. Now what the hell is going on?"

Vince's grin faded into a sober frown as they broke apart again, and he threw Brian a strangely apologetic look before replying. "It's kind of a long story. How much have you heard about what happened after you left?"

"Not enough, if _you're_ back and nobody told me. I called a few times, checked up on the Charger, and heard about Jesse; I know Dom's gone, and that no one's seen him since he ditched the Supra. After a while someone told me they weren't looking for me and Leon any more, but last I heard there were still warrants out for your arrest. And yours," she glanced at Brian.

"Funny thing about that," Brian shrugged. "You do a few favors for the FBI, and it's amazing how fast things can change." He trailed off, fine lines crinkling around his mouth in a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. 

With that expression on his face, she found it easier to believe he _had_ been a cop: the enemy. But that just made the rest of it make even less sense to her.

"Is that true?" she turned to Vince, incredulous. "Does that mean Dom...?"

He shook his head, looking grim. "Wish it did, but no. Brian had the whole prodigal son thing going for him; they dangled him a suicide job to clear his name, and couldn't take it back when he pulled it off. Me, they were willing to do a deal for; I was a small fish to begin with, and _nobody_ wants more assholes like that drug lord in Miami ruining the lives of people like us. But Dom's another story."

Brian nodded, expression solemnly earnest. "Statute of limitations doesn't matter when you're running from the feds, and they have more on him than they do on the rest of you put together. There's nothing he could offer them that would be enough to outweigh both those charges and his history, even if he was willing to turn CI, too. Believe me, I asked. If I could have done anything more than I did, I would have."

Letty shook her head at that, unbound hair sliding over her shoulders. "And why _should_ I believe you? What even _is_ this?" She gestured between them, drawing attention to the fact that they were standing almost on top of each other, for all the world as if that was something they did. Vince never even stood that close to _Dom_. "Last I knew, you two were at each other's throats. Now you're cozying up to him? And talking about being a _narc_? You _know_ what Dom would say to that. And _you_ honestly expect me to believe Mia sold you the garage? She's still mad enough to set you on fire, Brian; she'd never take your money. What's really going on here?"

"A friend of mine who helped us out in Miami, guy named Roman Pearce; he's the one who actually bought the place. We were looking for a garage, and when I heard DT's was up for sale, well, how could I pass it up?" Brian shrugged. "As for the rest of it...." 

Brian turned his head to glance at Vince, then; and a sudden, unbelievable suspicion sparked to life at the look Vince gave him in return.

Letty had watched Vince follow Mia around like a dumb dog that won't take a hint for _years_. If Mia had _ever_ looked back at him with a fraction of the intensity that flashed between him and Brian now, Dom would have marched his sister and his best friend down the aisle with a shotgun.

Well that explained a few things, didn't it. But what a mess. Vince had chased skirts as long as she'd known him, and caught plenty that weren't Mia; and Brian _had_ caught Mia. Dom would shit a brick if this had been going on behind her back.

"Never mind; I don't want to hear it," she said, holding up a hand before either of them could open their mouths. "You don't say _jack_ to me before Mia knows what's what, 'cause I ain't going to be the one to tell her, and I won't lie for you, either. To her _or_ Dom," she added, temper ramping back up.

"Letty...." Vince began, taken aback by her vehemence, scrubbing a hand over the back of his neck.

She knew that expression, too. She'd spent way too much time around him when Dom had been in Lompoc, trying to help Mia hold everything together. He wanted approval, he was going to have to wait to get it from someone else first; he had no right to ask it of her, not now, not after everything they'd just dumped on her. " _No_ , Vince. I said _I don't want to fucking hear any more_."

Brian opened his mouth, then shut it, and set a hand on Vince's arm. "Fair enough," he answered. Thank God at least one of them could control his temper. "So... can I ask what brings _you_ here, then?"

"What do you think?" Letty snorted. "Dom sent things sometimes to friends out of the country. Parts and shit for the racing circuits in Mexico, South America, wherever. I know it's a long shot, but I was gonna check the shipping records."

"Places he might've gone," Vince put the pieces together with a frown. "People he might've gone to. You're gonna go looking then, I take it? I wondered, when I heard he'd sent you off without him."

"You know me, Vince." She spread her hands, giving him a tight smile.

He sighed, then nodded again. "Yeah, I do. Which is why I'll tell you, he wouldn't have gone to any of those places, in case the cops followed the same trail. He probably landed with one of his dad's friends first; he gave me a few names before Lompoc in case Mia needed anything urgent, and a couple of 'em were down south. I doubt he'd have stayed there long, but I'll write 'em down for you anyway, give you a place to start."

"You serious?" She raised an eyebrow. "Not gonna tell me to go home and wait? Or tattle to your new friends?"

Vince shrugged. "I'm not _that_ dumb. You're family, too. And whether he admits it or not, he needs you."

"Oh, he'd _better_ , if he knows what's good for him."

"He will," Brian added quietly. Then he drew himself up as if he'd made a decision. "I _am_ glad to see you, you know. You look good. I know you've got no reason to believe me, but the only reason I came after you guys that day was because I'd heard the truckers were arming, and I didn't want any of you to get killed. Tanner accused me of going native; the thing I think he never realized was that it was more like going home for me. I was fooling myself if I thought I would ever be able to choose the job over family, especially after it came between me and Rome. Maybe that made me a bad cop; but I hope it makes me a better person." 

He paused there for a second; then gave her a faint, wry smile. "I won't say what you don't wanna hear, but just so you know, I’m in it for the long haul."

Vince's expression was uncharacteristically open and soft as Brian finished, his eyes fixed on the buster's face.

 _Damn_ it. She was going to have to get used to him being a permanent part of their lives after all, wasn't she. Letty didn't know how much to believe of the rest of their story, but that part seemed pretty clear. She still didn't want to hear it until Mia had had her shot, though. And she'd pay good money to be there when Dom found out.

"Well, you've talked yourself out of a punch to the face," she let herself thaw a little. "We'll just have to see about the rest. You look good too, by the way; I'd ask if Vince has been feeding you, but I've tried his cooking."

"Hey! See if I give you those names now," Vince replied, clapping a hand over his chest in mock offense.

"Thought you said you weren't that dumb," she smirked at him.

"She's got you there, Vince," Brian replied with a snort.

"Traitor," Vince growled, fighting back a smile. Then he gestured toward the office. "C'mon. Let's hunt up a pen and paper and see how much I can remember."

* * *

The guys trod warily around her the rest of the week, but they shared beer and whatever they'd scraped up for dinner when she dropped by the garage twice in the evenings, and stowed the Charger away in the back without a word when she had it towed there from Hector's. The big black beast looked forlorn, tucked away under a tarp with its frame still twisted and marred from the wreck, but Letty didn't have the energy to face it yet.

Soon. If she didn't find him right away-- and if she did, then they could work on it together.

After Vince gave her the list of names, she did find it in her to finally stop by the house, at least. Mia welcomed her with tears and open arms, while the paper crinkled in her pocket like some fucked up security blanket. Like she couldn't sit still for a moment without having the next destination already on the horizon. Well, so be it.

She'd chosen ride or die the moment she'd chosen Dom. Mia might be anchored down by her responsibilities, but she was Dom's sister; she understood it, even if she didn't live it.

"Be safe," Mia murmured in her ear, when they said their farewells. "Tell him I'm fine; and that I love him."

Vince was pithier about it. "Kick his ass when you see him," he said, crushing her close against his chest.

Brian didn't try the same; but he did hand her a burner phone. "In case you need it. I know you can take care of yourself. But it's not always safe to travel alone."

"For a girl, you mean?" Letty raised a sardonic eyebrow. There went the cop in him again. "And it's cute you think I can't get one of these on my own."

"For anyone. And I know you can," he countered doggedly. "But that one's equipped with the latest tricks to keep it under the radar-- I got it from Tej, a tech genius I know. Just let us know you're still alive from time to time, all right?" He shot a sidewise glance at Vince, then. "Vince likes to pretend he doesn't, but he worries."

Vince punched him in the arm, but his eyes betrayed him again; Letty shook her head, but took the phone. 

"Just make sure you keep an eye on your own asses while I'm gone."

She strode out of the garage into the warm sunshine and turned her feet toward Mexico.

* * *

She didn't find Dom with any of the names Vince had given her. He'd been right about that. But by the second stop, she started to recognize the signs that he'd been through: the disruptions left in the orbits of everyone he'd met, tugged out of place by his personal gravity. Mia's fancy analogy, but it fit him all too well.

Everyone smiled or shook their heads when they talked about him, and had no idea where he'd been headed to next. He hadn't been willing to say. But to one guy he'd spoken about an upcoming race in the next state; to another, about local politics; to a third, about shipments running under the federales' noses. Dom wouldn't move drugs or people, but after the DVD players just about anything else would be fair game; it sounded like he'd got bored or low on cash and decided to stir the pot again.

Letty rolled her eyes, pieced the clues together, and checked in with Mia before driving on.

He wasn't at the next place she stopped, either; or the next. But someone else found her between them, the first person to recognize her without prompting since Los Angeles. And that turned out to be pretty much the only break she had the entire trip.

She'd stopped at a Pemex for a fill and some snacks, and let her eyes linger on the best-kept American muscle car in the lot; an Asian guy was standing next to it, lounging against the hood with a bag of chips in his hand, lazily eyeing everyone who walked by. Letty lifted an eyebrow at him as she passed him, in recognition of his fine ride, but wouldn't have said a word-- except that he froze as he met her gaze, then straightened up, staring as if _she_ were the one out of place there.

"Hey," he said, sounding startled. "You're her."

"Sorry, pal," she said, dropping a hand into the pocket of her cargoes as she passed. She liked to think that she wasn't an easy target, but the searching gaze of a stranger pretending to _know_ her still felt like sandpaper rubbed against her skin. "You've got the wrong woman."

"No, I mean-- you're Letty, the girl in Dom's picture," he said again, more earnestly this time.

That pulled her up short. "You know Dom?" she asked incredulously, looking him over more carefully. Korean, maybe; American-raised, by the accent. Slightly shaggy hair cut, casual clothes, self-assured attitude; he would have disappeared into the crowd back in LA. Was this some friend of Dom's she'd never met?

He nodded, then tucked the bag of chips away and held out a hand. "Dominic Toretto; yeah. Ran into him a few months ago, a couple states away from here. He was up to something interesting and needed another driver for his crew. I'm Han. You looking for him?"

She took the hand, letting the switchblade lie in her pocket. Not an _old_ friend, then. But close enough, she supposed. If Dom had let the guy ride with him, he must have trusted him at least a little. "Haven't had much luck so far. Don't suppose you know where he is?"

"No," Han shrugged. "Said he'd call _me_ , though, next time he has a job he could use my help on."

Letty chuckled. "Of course. That would've been too easy. I am going to kick his ass when I finally catch up to him, you know."

"Sounds about right," Han replied, giving her an amused smile.

"What exactly did he say about me?" she asked, bemused. "Never mind, I can guess. Tell me the truth, is he still collecting skanks everywhere he goes? He used to do that at races all the time; said it was just to get me all worked up, but now that he's out on his own, gotta tell you, it makes a girl wonder."

He laughed, then checked his watch; then he pulled a business card and a pen out of a pocket, scribbled out whatever had been written on it before, and added a cell phone number in bold black ink.

"Got places to be right now, but we can swap stories later, if you like. Call me with your number. And then, whenever Dom calls, I can let you know. Think I'll enjoy seeing what happens when you're both around."

She snorted, but took the card, tucking it in the same pocket as her phone. "Be careful what you wish for, man. But I appreciate it."

"No problem. It was nice to meet you," he replied with a nod, then gestured to the store. "But don't let me keep you from your business."

"Likewise." She went on inside, shaking her head; and when she came out again with her sunflower seeds and Jarritos he was long gone.

The trail went cold after that, leaving her to head home with a new friend's number in her cell phone and a whole new list of things to yell at Dom for. There was no guarantee he ever _would_ call Han, and the trail was only getting colder in the meantime, but the time spent on the open road had at least given her time to think: to look to the future in a way she hadn't let herself during all the months she'd spent on the run.

She'd do a hell of a lot for Dom; sacrifice a lot if it meant being with him. But there was a line, and if she wasn't the type to wait safely in her castle-- she was no Don Quixote, either. 

Besides. Mia had called her for a change, livid as hell and more animated than Letty had heard her in over a year. Either one of the guys had finally manned up, or someone else had spilled the beans, but she'd apparently stopped by the garage unexpectedly and caught an eyeful. She'd been a little incoherent, but some mention of barbeque had also been involved. And _that_ , Letty had to see.

It wouldn't be the same without Dom. But the world hadn't stood still last time, either. Time to go home, and see what the family had been up to while she was gone.

* * *

It was, appropriately, a Sunday when Letty rolled back into town for the second time. She checked her watch, and thought about it; then smiled and turned her car toward the Torettos'.

The scent of briquette smoke and cooking meat told her she'd made the right decision. She took a deep breath of the air when she got out of the car, then pushed travel-worn hair back out of her eyes and grabbed the Quick-Mart bag of chips and salsa from the front seat. Guests didn't cook; but they didn't show up unexpected without contributing anything to the meal, either. Toretto family rule.

Heads turned as she pushed through the gate into the back yard, the hinges emitting a rusty squeak. Leon and Jesse were an unexpected but very welcome sight; the kid was still obviously not back up to fighting trim, but he was wearing a genuine smile, and Leon looked a lot less frazzled than the last time she'd seen him. Vince and Brian sat across the table from them; the after effects of an ugly shiner smeared purples and greens around one of Brian's eyes, and he gave her a sheepish shrug as she raised an eyebrow at him. A stranger sat at the foot of the table, shorter than Brian and as dark-skinned as he was pale; the infamous Roman Pearce, if she had to guess. And at the head of the table: Mia, rising to greet her with a relieved, luminous smile.

Letty dropped her chips and salsa, then hugged her with more grace than the last time she'd seen her, and snagged Mia's right hand as they pulled back apart. "You forgot to tuck your thumb outside your fist when you punched him, didn't you?" she snickered, throwing a significant look over Mia's shoulder toward Brian.

"Yeah, well, he's just lucky I didn't use a wrench," Mia muttered, rubbing her bruised hand; but Letty saw the smug curl at the corner of her mouth, and laughed.

"You know it," she replied, then raised her voice. 

"Hey, buster. You gonna drag another chair out here for me, or what?"

"No respect!" Brian called back as he got up from the table, to the chuckling of the others. Something had relaxed in him since the last time she'd seen him; he looked a lot more at ease in his own skin. "You know, they called me Bullitt out in Miami? I was the man to look up to out there!"

"Yeah, well, you ain't in Miami, cuz," she drawled back, drawing more laughter. "We got higher standards out here."

"Oh, I like this one," Pearce said, waving a chicken wing at her across the table. "She tellin' you like it is, Bri."

"Yeah, you just keep flapping that mouth of yours, Rome." Brian retrieved the new chair and set it up with a flourish, sweeping a hand over the seat. "Can I get you anything else? A Corona?"

"Just sit your ass down, I can serve myself," she waved him off with a grin. "I take it this is the old friend you sent to buy the garage for you?"

"Met him in juvie as a kid. Yeah, I didn't lie about that. Been friends ever since, except for that part in the middle where he hated my guts for taking a badge."

"Sounds like the whole time you thought you were the good guy pretending to be the bad guy, you were actually the bad guy pretending to be the good guy," Mia said archly, giving him a pointed look. "Too bad you couldn't have figured it out a little sooner."

"Hear, hear!" Pearce added, miming applause.

"Come on, now, at least give him credit for picking his moment," Vince added his voice to the ribbing. "Saved my ass, kept Dom out of jail, took out Johnny Tran-- if he hadn't done any of that shit yet, Dom would have kicked his teeth in, and you know it. And that would have been a damn shame. Just look at that fucking toothpaste commercial right there."

He gestured to Brian, who was grinning ruefully back at him, and shook his head. "It's sickening, isn't it."

"No, _you're_ sickening," Jesse said, pointing his fork at them. "Thought we told you guys to keep that shit away from the table. Just ain't right, man. Vince flirting and not getting slapped down for it; it's dis, uh, disordering my whole view of the universe."

"Aaaand that's enough of that topic for now. I want to hear what Letty's been up to." Mia rolled her eyes, turning her attention back to Letty. "I take it you didn't find Dom?"

"No. Found a lot of places he'd been; made a few new friends. Sounds like he's doing okay. But I'm sick of chasing after his ass. He knows where to find me when he wants me," she shrugged.

"And you're all right with that?" Mia tilted her head, her forehead furrowing with concern.

"Are you kidding me?" Letty scoffed. "But what am I gonna do? Whine about it? I met a guy Dom ran a job with who said he'd call me the next time Dom pulls him in; unless your brother wises up and sends you more than an anonymous postcard first, that's the best lead I got."

She shot a sidewise glance at Brian and Vince, then. "Don't suppose you could use another pair of hands at DT's?"

Brian straightened in his seat, thinking that over. "Depends. Are you gonna rag on me for every little thing I do differently from Dom?"

He sounded more than half serious about that, to Letty's mild surprise. "You know, you're a lot more assertive without Dom around. Or is this the Cop Brian you were hiding under a bushel before?"

Leon chose that moment to throw in, lifting his eyebrows. "Nah, he was always this cocky. Or don't you remember him betting pink slips against Dom? Not to mention all the fights he had with Vince. Though I suppose we know what that was all about now, don't we?"

He looked like he wanted to say more along those lines; but a quick glance at Mia's unamused face shut him up.

"Still. You came to us, looking to belong. Now you think you got the cojones to lead? You really think you should be the one making those decisions?" Letty jerked her chin pointedly toward Vince.

Brian flushed, leaning forward and dropping his napkin on the table. "Hey. You know what? If no one else is going to apologize for who they are, then I am _done_ apologizing for who I am. I didn't cheat on anyone; and the garage is _mine_ now, no matter what it says on the sign. Take it or leave it; I don't give a shit anymore."

"Fair enough," she replied, amused. And not just because of the words: Vince's casual slouch next to him, dropping a hand on Brian's back rather than protesting himself, told her just as much. As did the fact that whatever he said, the sign still read DT's. "All right then, Boss Man. When do I start?"

Brian sputtered; but the rest of the table echoed her amusement. Even Mia.

Then Leon got up to turn the next batch of wings over on the grill, and a fresh round of Coronas were brought out. The family might not be fully back together; but for the first time in a long time, Letty felt almost content. They were piecing something together in its place that might not be the same, but was maybe worth sticking around for anyway; like that fancy Japanese art with the broken vases she never could remember the name of.

She'd find Dom when it was time. And in the meantime, life went on.


End file.
